Based on past experience, this proposed "Working Group" faces a gargantuan challenge. The immensity of the task is highlighted by the question proposed in 2005 by the Sexuality Task Force ....how is it that biblical scholars, studying the same texts and using comparable methods of interpretation, come to different conclusions in regard to what the Bible teaches?.........

This question is being repeated over and over again, as the ELCA struggles to find a Lutheran hermeneutic for scriptural interpretation.

We pray God’s blessing (and the wisdom of Solomon) on this working group as they examine one of the most critical issues facing the ELCA in our time. To read the article click here.

Item #1, April 2006

GOOD SOIL.ORG - Supporting Metro New York

The urgency of Dr. Benne’s comments in the Issue Paper is underscored by information published by Good Soil on its website. Good Soil is a leading gay rights advocacy group. Here we see that the forces encouraging the relaxation of ELCA policies is already, or should we say still, very active in promoting their agenda.

Their efforts go so far as offering sample resolutions for Synod Councils and Synod Assemblies, with encouragement to adopt and transmit them to the Church Council of the ELCA.

To take a look at them click here.

Item #2, April 2006

ELCA COUNCIL FINDS SYNOD RESOLUTION CONFLICTS WITH CHURCH RULES

In September 2005 the Metro New York Synod held a special Synod Assembly in which they adopted resolutions that adjusted the ‘exercise of discipline’ in such a way that homosexual persons living in a committed relationship could be ordained under certain circumstances. This action was posted in our Issue Paper for November. You may want to revisit this post.

The Metro NY Synod then forwarded their resolution to the Church Council of the ELCA to determine whether it is in compliance with the governing documents of the ELCA. After careful deliberation, the Council rendered its response, reported in an ELCA News Release dated April 7, 2006.

This response can be summarized by this sentence: “The council decided "that the resolution contains inherently conflicting statements that may be read as being in conflict with the constitution and bylaws of this church and the applicable policies."

The Church Council is to be commended for upholding the decisions of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly.

However, it should be noted that the Council qualified its statement by indicating that the Metro NY resolution ‘may be read’ as being in conflict. At another point the request was denied not on its content alone, but because of a procedural error, ie., adding an ‘additional requirement‘. The statement of the Church Council may not be as clear cut as it might appear.

You are invited to judge for yourselves by clicking here.

Item #1, March 2006

PRO-GLBT LUTHERANS SEEKING FUNDING

If anyone thinks that the proposals to advance gay/lesbian recognition in our church, including clergy, are on the wane, PLEASE THINK AGAIN!

A group of ELCA pastors in the New York City area have launched a major nationwide fund appeal to advance their agenda within the ELCA. The goal is 2 million dollars ($2,000,000). They state that half of it has already been pledged!

Pastor Eric Swensson, Word Alone point of contact person in the Metro New York Synod, writes: "For the sake of the faithful in the pews in Metro NY and the rest of the ELCA, begin taking action. The time for action has come. If the theologically orthodox let this small, incredibly well financed group change the history of the denomination forever, I suppose we deserve it." For details, please click here.

Item #3, March 2006

LCMC NEWSLETTER, FIRST QUARTER 2006

The current Newsletter of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ has just been released. It offers a good overview of what LCMC is doing.

Some items will be of special interest to Word Alone members. We highlight a few of them. You may find more.

--- A new publication, The Lutheran Hedgehog, page 6

--- The report from the Heartland District, page 8

--- The new Word Alone Hymnal, page 12

The Newsletter is printed in full at: click here.

Item #1, February 2006

ELCA TASK FORCE ON HUMAN SEXUALITY BEGINS ANEW

The newly re-formed Task Force on Human Sexuality held its first meeting in Chicago on February 2-5. Its assignment is to produce a social statement on human sexuality for presentation at the Churchwide Assembly in 2009.

This information is contained in a News Release from the ELCA News Service under the date of February 10. To find it click here.

Item #2, February 2006

IS 'HE' A FOUR-LETTER WORD?

Most of us are aware of the recent trend in ELCA circles to use terms that are not gender specific. For example, is it improper to refer to God as “HE”? Some of the hymns in the Lutheran Book of Worship have already been changed. The Sunday bulletin inserts published by Augsburg Fortress reflect the same trend by using the New Revised Standard translation in the Scripture readings.

Pastor Erma Wolf of Brandon, South Dakota, addresses this issue in a recent article. To read it click here.

Item #3, February 2006

The American Anglican Council Expresses Grave Concern Over Nominees for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

The nominating committee of the Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA) has announced its nominees for Presiding Bishop of ECUSA.

These nominees, according to the American Anglican Council, offer little hope for a presiding bishop who would set a more conservative tone in the denomination.

The Episcopal Church, already under certain sanctions by the worldwide Anglican Communion, partly initiated by the consecration of partnered gay Bishop, V. Gene Robinson, could face even more severe sanctions, including dismissal from the Anglican Communion, if they fail to show appropriate repentance for their earlier actions. To find this article click here.

Item #1, January 2006

Last month we were introduced to the new concept of Word Alone’s “Lutheran Churches of the Common Confession”.

Since then, a number of questions have been raised as to how this new association is like, or is different, from other Lutheran reform approaches, both inside and outside the Word Alone Network.

Pastor Mark Chavez, Director of the Word Alone Network, addresses some of these questions in a recent article. We offer it here in full.

How the new association is different from LCMC

by Mark C. Chavez

Director, WordAlone Network

The 2005 WordAlone Network annual convention approved the formation of a new association of churches that is different in several ways from Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). WordAlone (WA) created LCMC as a Lutheran church body, but a church body somewhat different from the existing Lutheran church bodies like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the others. “Church body” is ELCA jargon for what most people mean by “denomination.”

LCMC is different from most denominations in that it is a looser association of likeminded churches and districts. LCMC has no intention of building a big national office with a complex bureaucratic organization. It is not a top-down, hierarchical organization.

Also, LCMC allows its member churches to belong to more than one denomination. Many LCMC churches belong to both LCMC and ELCA, and they may belong to other Lutheran denominations if they so choose. There were two reasons why WA decided in 2000 to form what would become LCMC:

1) to provide a place for the seminary graduates to go who refused episcopal ordination (in March 2000 there was no guarantee that the ELCA churchwide would allow for any non-episcopal ordinations); and 2) to offer a place for the relatively few number of churches that wanted to leave the ELCA, but did not want to join another existing Lutheran denomination like the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or any of the smaller Lutheran denominations, most of which do not approve of the ordination of women.

The new association initiated by WA, but not limited to WA churches, will not begin as LCMC did, as a denomination. WA intends it to be a grouping of ELCA and other churches that take a confessional stand against the ELCA churchwide organization wherever and whenever it departs from the orthodox faith of the Christian Church and conflicts with the Lutheran confessions.

The churches in the association will work together in support of the good ministries that are happening within the ELCA such as Lutheran Men in Mission and Disaster Response to name two. In addition, the association will work together as partners with independent Lutheran agencies (e.g., Lutheran World Relief, Youth Encounter and others) for global missions, youth ministry, development of educational materials and other ministries that the ELCA churchwide organization has let slide or dropped altogether.

The aim of the association will be to form a significant association of churches within the ELCA. LCMC has no such purpose. Much of LCMC’s focus is to do mission and ministry outside the ELCA. The primary focus of this new association is to pull together ELCA churches to do mission and ministry together, though non-ELCA churches are most welcome to join the association.

It is possible that in the future there will be a close working relationship between the association and LCMC. Ever since LCMC was established, WA and LCMC leaders have expressed the hope that while, for now, the organizations are moving along parallel tracks, at some time the tracks might come back together. For the time being however, LCMC is focused primarily outside the ELCA and WA is focused primarily on working with ELCA churches.

Item #2, January 2006

Lutherans, Roman Catholics Begin Planning for 2017

Some eyebrows may have been raised when a Nov. 16, 2005 ELCA News Release was sent out under this title. A joint Lutheran-Roman Catholic observance of the reformation???

The article speaks in glowing terms of the formal dialogues and other contacts between the two denominations. Without any attempt to diminish the value of these and other such ecumenical conversations, there are a couple of comments that qualify the expressed optimism. Watch for these statements as you read the article:.

"On the other hand the pope spoke of some concerns he had that a common heritage between Lutherans and Catholics could in some areas be undermined. This is a concern the Lutherans should take very seriously," Dieter said.

The pope had said differences between Lutherans and Catholics were less about the orders of ministry and more about the Word of God, those who bear witness to the Word and interpreting the Word according to the "rule of faith."

Dieter and Track asked Pope Benedict XVI to explain those differences. "The pope smiled and said that precisely this is the task of the dialogue -- to define the differences and also the possibility of overcoming the differences more clearly and in a more detailed way,"

It is obvious that any kind of formal relationship is still viewed from afar by the Vatican. Anyone expecting a big Lutheran-Catholic celebration in 2017 might be well advised not to hold his breath.

To read the article click here.

Item #1, December 2005

LUTHERAN MEN IN MISSION, NY SYNOD, SPEAK OUT!

Last month’s Issue Paper reported on a special Synod Assembly of the New York Metro Synod. This Assembly endorsed calling and continuing the calls of ministers who are in same-sex relationships.

On November 10, 2005 NY Synod Lutheran Men in Mission addressed a letter to Bishop Bouman and the Synod Council. The first paragraph of this letter sets the tone:

“It is with a heavy and saddened heart that we, as leaders of the men’s ministry in this synod, must write this letter as a result of the recently enacted Resolutions passed during the Special Synod Assembly Meeting on Oct 29, 2005.”

To read this letter click here.

This apparent attempt by the Metro NY Synod to circumvent established ELCA policy was brought to the attention of the ELCA Church Council, meeting in Chicago November 11-13. Their reaction was reported in a November 17 ELCA news release, which contains this paragraph:

“As its response the council referred the resolution to the ELCA Office of the Secretary in consultation with the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, Vocation and Education, and ELCA Conference of Bishops, and requested that "a report and possible recommendations be presented to the (council's) April 2006 meeting.”

To read the complete news release click here.

Item #2, December 2005

'HYMNAL' TO HAVE 'COMMON SERVICE'

By Prof. Gracia Grindal

There has been much discussion in ELCA circles about the new ‘Worship Resources’ that has been in process for the last five years. The 2005 Churchwide Assembly passed a long resolution committing the ELCA to this continuing undertaking.

This website has carried two presentations on the proposed ELCA "New Hymnal", one in June 2005, and another in October 2005. Both are available on our site, under 'Issue Papers'.

Perhaps we have lost sight of the fact that another new hymnal is being prepared, this one by the Word Alone Hymnal Task Force. A recent article by Professor Gracia Grindal brings us up to date on this effort. To find it click here.

Item, November 2005

ELCA Reformers Unite Around Common Concerns

Last month we looked ahead to the fall conference of the Word Alone Network. This event was held Nov. 6-8 at Brooklyn Park, MN.

Betsy Carlson, WordAlone Network editor, opens the first report from this event with this paragraph:

"Reform minded individuals, groups and churches unified Tuesday for efforts to change the social focus, the culture and perspective of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Individuals and representatives of various Biblical, orthodox Lutheran groups and churches agreed to set aside differences and work together, based on a common confession, to re-establish the authority of the Bible and Lutheran Confessions, bring back missions work and evangelism, return to orthodoxy and rein in the present liberal social agenda in the ELCA."

To read the complete report click here.

If you have not followed the planning for this process in detail, it might be helpful to open two Documents referenced in blue in the article: Common Confession and Resolution.

Item #2, October 2005

Ex-Gay Speaker Hopes Tour Will Set Connecticut Straight on Homosexual Issues

Again this month we borrow a recent news report from the Agape Press.

Stephen Bennett, who left the homosexual lifestyle in 1992, and now heads the Stephen Bennett Ministries, which educates the public on homosexuality and offers help and hope to those seeking freedom from unwanted homosexual attractions.

A hard-hitting tour is being planned. To find it click here.

Item #1, September 2005

REFORM MOVEMENT LEADER SAYS DOOR OPEN TO BLESSING GAY UNIONS

By Betsy Carlson, Word Alone Network Editor

The Churchwide Assembly passed a resolution regarding same-sex unions that raises more questions than it answers.

Word Alone President, Pastor Jaynan Egland, contends that Resolution 2 (same-sex unions) leaves the door open for pastors, under the guise of 'pastoral care' to 'do' or 'not to do', as they see fit. The ELCA Church Council declined to clarify the resolution. Whatever it means, it passed by a large majority. To read these comments click here.

Item #2, September 2005

ELCA PASTOR: 'GENDER-NEUTRAL HYMNAL CONCESSION TO CULTURE'

By Jim Brown, Agape Press

This article reports observations by the Rev. Dr. Roy A. Harrisville III relative to the impact of certain changes in the new proposed hymnal.

Harrisville asks, "when we alter our language, are we altering our theology and our basic values? "I think that is what's happening". To find this article click here.

Item #3, September 2005

ELCA NEEDS STRONG, LOYAL OPPOSITION

By Dr. Frederick W. Baltz, Word Alone Board Member

A look at the 'culture' might well include a look at the 'culture' of the ELCA.

Dr. Baltz contends that it has become more difficult for dissenting voices to be heard in the ELCA, but that Word Alone is committed to recognize both the good and the bad in the institutional church, and to bear witness accordingly.

To read his remarks click here.

Item #2, August 2005

WHAT DID THEY REALLY DO? (Churchwide Assembly)

by Rev. Jaynan Clark Egland, President, Word Alone Network

Some members of the ELCA and others are still asking, What did they really do?, especially in regard to the resolutions on homosexuality prepared by the ELCA Task Force, and forwarded by the ELCA Church Council to the Churchwide Assembly, Orlando, FL, Aug. 8-14, 2005.

Pastor Egland here offers a critique, especially of the actions taken on Resolutions 2 & 3, # 2 dealing with same-sex marriages and # 3, the ordination of partnered homosexuals. To read her evaluation click here.

Item #3, July 2005

ORLANDO'S SLEEPER ISSUE

By Richard O. Johnson

With all the talk and anxiety about the sexuality recommendations, not much attention is being paid to other significant matters on the agenda at the ELCA churchwide assembly in Orlando. In our view, the big "sleeper issue" is the proposed restructuring of the churchwide organization.

After the last assembly, Bp. Hanson proposed a plan for restructure. There was such an outcry that it was withdrawn a few weeks later. The new proposal shows considerably more thought, but the road pretty much leads to the same place: centralization of authority in the office of the presiding bishop, and increased emphasis on multicultural ministry and the church as "public witness" (read: "political advocate").

As to centralization: the current divisions go out of existence, and a series of "program units" are established. Some of them more or less exactly mirror current divisions: Church in Society, Global Mission. Others are somewhat refocused, or at least renamed: "Higher Education and Schools" seems to meld into "Ministry" to become "Vocation and Education"; "Congregational Ministries" gets renamed "Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission." Then there's Multicultural Ministries. Currently a "commission," it now gets upgraded to a "program unit" on a par with these others. Well, not quite, but we'll get to that momentarily.

Currently the boards of the divisions have some actual purpose and authority. They have 21 members, and one of their most important tasks is to elect the executive director of each division "in consultation with and with the approval of" the presiding bishop. In the brave new world, the new program units will have 15-member "program committees" whose purpose isn't exactly clear, but it does not include electing the executive. Now the executive will be nominated by the presiding bishop and elected by the church council. Oh, the program committee is supposed to be "consulted." See what we mean by centralization?

There's more. Currently the office of the presiding bishop oversees some administrative functions such as synodical relations, human resources, research and evaluation. That remains the case in the new proposal, but look what gets added: worship! Currently lodged in the Division for Congregational Ministries, apparently the powers that be have decided that worship isn't so much about congregations but about something else. We're not sure what, exactly, but we're assured that "as this church's pastor, teacher of the faith, and a leader of this church's life and witness, the presiding bishop's own ministry and title are rooted in the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Worship is central to this church's identity and to every aspect of this church's ministry." That's why it's moving to the office of the presiding bishop.

Like we said, "centralization."

Now back to Multicultural Ministries. Equal status with Global Mission and the rest, and more than equal. The program committees for the other units are going to come, most of them, from nominations by the synods. But apparently not Multicultural Ministries. Those nominations remain the bailiwick of the churchwide nominating committee. They need to have more control over those nominations, we suppose-you know, diversity and all that. Plus, this new unit has some really, really important tasks. It "leads, coordinates, educates, and holds accountable churchwide efforts and programs with synods, regions, and agencies and institut8ions as they identify, develop, and strengthen the multicultural dimensions of their work." Yeah, they've been really effective at that as a commission, so promoting them to equal status with, say, Global Mission is bound to help us reach that goal-what was it again? Weren't we striving for at least 10% of membership being people of color and/or primary language other than English by 1998? Did we make it? What do they say about insanity-that it's doing the same thing, over and over, expecting different results?

The plan also has a great deal to say about public witness. Indeed, we "need to speak out as a public church together"-that's one of the five things the proposal identifies as areas of "general agreement" as to what we need to do together. The others are global mission, leadership preparation, evangelism, and starting new congregations. That puts "speaking out" in pretty august company, wouldn't you say?

We've heard almost no conversation about any of this, but this proposed reshaping of the churchwide organization will have a tremendous impact on the future direction of the ELCA. It deserves careful and thoughtful debate.

(Richard O. Johnson is a retired ELCA Pastor and is Associate Editor of the Forum Letter published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. This article first appeared as an "Online Article" at The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau's "Forum Online" www.alpb.org ©2005 ALPB. Reprinted with permission.)

Item #1, June 2005

Item #2, May 2005

Item #2, April 2005

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